Category 5 Hurricane Dorian tore through the Bahamas like a buzz saw last week, killing dozens of people and leaving a ruined, broken landscape.

It was the fifth Category 5 hurricane in the past four Atlantic hurricane seasons, joining other monsters such as Matthew, Irma, Maria andMichael, each of which left its own trail of death and destruction.

Is this part of a new trend? Could this be the "new normal"?

"I fear it’s worse than that," Penn State University meteorologist Michael Mann said. "As we continue to warm the planet, hurricane intensities will increase further. There’s no new normal. It’s an ever-shifting baseline toward more destructive storms as long as we continue to burn fossil fuels and load the atmosphere with carbon pollution."

A Category 5 hurricane is the most destructive hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, blowing winds of 157 mph or higher.

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Category 5 winds can cause "catastrophic" destruction, the National Hurricane Center said: "A high percentage of homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse." Power outages can last for weeks to months, and most of the affected area could be uninhabitable, the center said.

This isn't the first onslaught of Category 5s: The early to mid-2000s had more than their share of these violent storms. "In 2005 alone, we had four Category 5 hurricanes (Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma)," Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach said. "And we had seven Category 5 hurricanes from 2003-2005 – including Isabel in 2003 and Ivan in 2004."

The reason for more Category 5s is clear, Mann said: "The basic physics is indisputable. Warmer oceans lead to hurricanes with greater potential intensities."

Globally, oceans have warmed up about a degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit), he said, and they've warmed up a bit more in the tropical North Atlantic Ocean, which is where hurricanes that affect the USA come from.

Weather Underground meteorologist Robert Henson said, "There has been ample work for more than a decade showing that hurricane frequency hasn't changed much globally, but the fraction of hurricanes reaching top levels (for example Category 4-5) has increased.

"This trend (roughly the same number of hurricanes but a larger share of them hitting the highest intensities) is consistent with what you would expect as sea-surface temperatures warm around the globe," Henson said.

Other research indicates that as the climate warms, some hurricanes slow down (the way Harvey, Florence and Dorian did); some intensify rapidly (such as Michael); and others occur earlier in the hurricane season, according to University of Georgia meteorologist Marshall Shepherd.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory said, "Although we cannot say at present whether more or fewer hurricanes will occur in the future with global warming, the hurricanes that do occur near the end of the 21st century are expected to be stronger and have significantly more intense rainfall than under present-day climate conditions."

As the climate warms, storms like Hurricane Harvey, which swamped the Houston area under record-breaking rainfall in 2017, could become more common.

Pastor Jeremiah Saunders poses for a photo among the ruins of his church that was destroyed by Hurricane Dorian, in High Rock, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Wednesday Sept. 11, 2019. Jeremiah says "I spoke to the water: 'Peace, be still.' It never listened," Saunders said with a wide smile and then grew serious as he focused on the task that tens of thousands of Bahamians now face on two islands devastated by the Category 5 storm: the clean-up. Ramon Espinosa, AP

Nassau resident Sandra Ferguson, 55, right, embraces her brother, Dereck Bain, 46, and their sister Judy Rolle, 51, in Marsh Harbour on Abaco in the Bahamas on Sept. 5, 2019 after a nerve-wracking trip to the disaster left behind by Hurricane Dorian. Ferguson and Rolle couldn't reach their brother via cell phone and flew to the island in hopes they could find him. Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY

A road is flooded during the passing of Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas on Sept. 2, 2019. Hurricane Dorian hovered over the Bahamas on Monday, pummeling the islands with a fearsome Category 4 assault that forced even rescue crews to take shelter until the onslaught passes. Tim Aylen, AP

Submerged car sit submerged in water from Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Bahamas on Sept. 3, 2019. Dorian is beginning to inch northwestward after being stationary over the Bahamas, where its relentless winds have caused catastrophic damage and flooding. Ramon Espinosa, AP

A family is escorted to a safe zone after they were rescued as rain from Hurricane Dorian continues in Freeport, Bahamas, on Sept. 3, 2019. The center of Hurricane Dorian is finally moving away from Grand Bahama island but the U.S. National Hurricane Center says the island will continue getting dangerous winds and life-threatening storm surge through the evening. Ramon Espinosa, AP

A man who was trapped by flood waters from Hurricane Dorian is transported out of the area by volunteers on a jet ski near the Causarina Bridge in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas on Sept. 3, 2019. Ramon Espinosa, AP

A resident takes photos of a plane destroyed by Hurricane Dorian on the side of a road in the Pine Bay neighborhood, in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, in Freeport, Bahamas, on Sept. 4, 2019. Ramon Espinosa, AP

Catherine Russel is greeted by loved ones after arriving at Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau, Bahamas with other survivors of Hurricane Dorian from Abaco Island on Sept. 4, 2019. Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty Images

Debris blankets the landscape in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in Marsh Harbor, Abaco, Bahamas, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019. The storm’s devastation has come into sharper focus as the death toll climbed to 20 and many people emerged from shelters to check on their homes. Michael Weissenstein, AP

A USCG Air Station Clearwater helicopter crew evacuates Hurricane Dorian displaced adults and children to safety, in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, on September 5, 2019. Hunter Medely, US Coast Guard, AFP/Getty Images

A home is flooded after Hurricane Dorian had made landfall to the island Great Abaco, Bahamas on September 5, 2019. International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Handout, EPA-EFE

A girl pretends to make a phone call on a toy telephone set while her mom checks her real cell phone to see if service has been restored in Marsh Harbour, on Abaco, in the Bahamas, following the passage of Hurricane Dorian on Sept. 6, 2019. Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY Network

Jake Gillanders, the executive director of the EMPACT SAR team from the United States, briefs members of the team before deploying at Treasure Cay on Abaco in The Bahamas on Sept. 6, 2019. EMPACT, a nonprofit SAR team based in the Pacific Northwest, works with local agencies or governments to supplement existing resources, and is supported solely by donations. Members, who include a doctor, an architect, a nurse and several firefighter/paramedics, have deployed around the world to assist with disasters, including Haiti and the Philippines. Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY Network

A group of Hurricane Dorian survivors wait to load an evacuation plane leaving Treasure Cay airport, the sole functioning landing site on Abaco, which was devastated by the storm. Airlines were evacuating kids, the sick and the elderly first, and were cancelling existing reservations to do so on Sept. 6, 2019. Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY Network

Mark Baker and Theresa Roach pick their way through debris on their way back to Baker's condo on Treasure Cay on Sept. 6, 2019. Baker's was one of the few homes left virtually untouched by Hurricane Dorian. Baker offered his home to a search-and-rescue team to use as a base area. Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY Network

Barbara Key hugs Herald Malone after seeing him again after Hurricane Dorian devastated Elbow Key Island on Sept. 7, 2019 ion Elbow Key Island, Bahamas. The official death toll has risen to 43 and according to officials is likely to increase even more. Jose Jimenez, Getty Images

Crew members from Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas unload food packages as part of the company's disaster relief operation to bring relief supplies and 20,000 daily meals to the Freeport, Bahamas community, in Freeport, Bahamas on Sept. 7, 2019. The island was one of the first to get hit by Hurricane Dorian after she turned in to a category 5 hurricane. Cristobal Herrera, EPA-EFE

Residents work on a roof in the "mud" neighborhood of Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco, on Sept. 7, 2019, in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. Bahamians who lost everything in the devastating passage of Hurricane Dorian were scrambling Saturday to escape the worst-hit islands by sea or by air, after the historically powerful storm left at least 43 people dead with officials fearing a "significantly" higher toll. Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty Images

Hurricane Dorian evacuee Cecil Grant cradles his sleeping daughter, Yalissa, 7 months old, while he makes a phone call at a shelter in Nassau, the Bahamas, a day after fleeing their longtime home on Abaco after the storm destroyed their house and much of the surrounding community. USA TODAY

Shakeem Wallace, center, was among more than 100 people looking for supplies outside the gates of the Grand Bahama International Airport in Freeport, Bahamas on Sept. 9, 2019. Kinfay Moroti, The News-Press via USA TODAY Network

A woman holds a baby to be attended at a tent-hospital setup by Samaritans Purse in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Bahamas, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019. Thousands of hurricane survivors are facing the prospect of starting their lives over but with little idea of how or where to even begin. Ramon Espinosa, AP

A member of a Florida search and rescue team marks a house clear after searching it for bodies in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas on Sept. 10, 2019, one week after Hurricane Dorian. Bahamas authorities have updated the death toll from Hurricane Dorian to 50 with the number expected to climb, local media reported, as thousands are evacuated from the archipelago's hardest-hit islands. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, AFP/Getty Images

Mary Glinton burns clothes damaged by Hurricane Dorian in Mclean's Town, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Wednesday Sept. 11, 2019. She created three piles of clothes stiffened by mud and water and set them on fire. A white lace curtain, a bright pink wind breaker and an old pair of black pants would soon go up in flames. She most lamented that all her church clothes were ruined. ( Ramon Espinosa, AP

A toy fire engine sits in the rubble of a house destroyed by Hurricane Dorian in Gold Rock Creek, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Thursday Sept. 12, 2019. Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Dorian hit the northern Bahamas, people continue to scan social media, peer under rubble or follow the smell of death in an attempt to find family and friends. Ramon Espinosa, AP

Trevon Laing walks the roof of his house to repair the damage made by Hurricane Dorian, in Gold Rock Creek, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Thursday Sept. 12, 2019. Trevor says "After the hurricane they had me for dead, My momma was crying." When he returned, he said he found his brother crying on the front porch."I'm like, 'Hey, I'm not dead! You guys have no faith in me. I'm a survivor,'" he said, adding with a laugh, "He was shocked and mad at the same time." Ramon Espinosa, AP